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Sunday, June 30, 2013

Ipsy - June Glam Bag

I'm trying to get in the habit of sharing my Ipsy bags more often! I thought I should share some swatches and how I feel about my June glam bag before June is over!

June's theme is On the Wild Side. The makeup bag is definitely wild with leopard print and neon yellow, but I love it. The items themselves aren't too wild, though they're still somewhat outside my comfort zone, so they're wild enough for me. But that's why I love Ipsy - it gets me to try new things!

Here is a quick list of the contents altogether:

Cailyn gel eye liner in Purple

NYX blush in Spice

J.Cat Beauty sparkling cream palette in Volta

Starlooks lip pencil in Bare

Chella highlighter crayon in Ivory Lace

Cailyn gel eye liner in PurpleThe Cailyn gel liner is one item that I was really hoping to get, specifically in purple. I've tried quite a few black gel liners, and I'm still getting used to them as opposed to liquid liner or pencils. They're surprisingly easy to get the hang of though! I think it's easier to apply than liquid for the top lid, but that's just my preference.

I really wanted to try the purple one since it seemed fun and different. The color is nice since it's a pretty deep purple - I thought it would be much brighter at first. It's a nice change from basic black though without being boring brown.

The container it comes in is interesting since the pot of gel liner and mini brush come together. It's quite handy! The brush is actually nice quality and made it easy to apply the liner. In the photo below, I used the wide side of the brush and on the right I used the narrow side. You would most likely use the narrow side since it's a liner, but the brush holds quite a bit if you wanted to do a really thick line or just apply it like shadow.

NYX blush in Spice

The NYX blush is a great product, but was a little of a letdown for me specifically. The blush itself is amazing, but the color just isn't really for me. The blush feels super silky and smooth to the touch, and it actually blends very nicely and effortlessly. The color is just a little bright for me! I received Spice which is a pretty bright pink. It would probably work well on a lot of people, but I'm just about porcelain white, so even applying it as light as possible and trying to blend it just makes me have pretty rosy cheeks!

The texture of the product and application is great though, so I may have to explore this blush in a different shade. It's a little disappointing that I was paired with this shade though since I was hoping Ipsy would start giving subscribers products based on their skintone.

J.Cat Beauty sparkling cream palette in Volta

This palette was probably the biggest letdown in the bag. I was hoping for a shimmery or glittery eyeshadow palette, but this isn't really eyeshadow. The J.Cat website actually says "This product should be used with caution and attentive application around the eye area and on the body." That doesn't mean you can't use it as eyeshadow, just be careful with it. Personally, the pieces of glitter are a little large for the eye area, and I would be afraid of getting some in my eye, but I went ahead and tried a little anyway.

The glitters are in a clear base, so there really isn't any color to them themselves. I swatched them on my hand below, and you can see that the glitter covers very well with a quick swipe from each color, but there is no base color. I was using the bluish one all the way to the right over some purple shadow and it looked pretty nice. I just very lightly dabbed the glitter with my finger and then dabbed it onto my lid. It added a nice pop of sparkle without going overboard. A little goes a long way with it, which is good since the palette isn't very deep and there isn't much of each color!

Starlooks lip pencil in Bare

I was hoping to receive one of the other possible colors of this product in my bag, but I guess I can't complain! This lip pencil is called Bare and is a very neutral color. It's almost a beige brown at first glance, but looks pretty brown when swatched on my hand. On my lips however, it looks almost grayish purple! I really don't think I'll be wearing it as an all-over color with my skintone. I might use it as a base for another color though.

It applied great though, so like the NYX blush, I may have to look into other colors. I have some NYX lip pencils that are pretty stiff, but this one is much softer. It applied very easily and the product is very soft and smooth. It's easy to be precise with, but glides on easily enough for all-over color.

Chella highlighter crayon in Ivory Lace

The Chella highlighter crayon is something sort of new to me. I don't highlight or contour often, so I don't typically use too many products like this. I tried it on areas of my face such as down my nose and on my brow bone. It definitely highlighted the areas and blended in nicely! In crayon form it's really effortless to use, so it might get me to try highlighting more often.

I really only highlight my brow bone on a daily basis, so it will probably get used for that most. It's easy to be precise with too, so you can carefully line under your eyebrow to really make it pop too. As you know, I'm pretty porcelain in skin tone, and this Ivory Lace pencil is light enough to highlight on me. Not by much, but it still helps. It would definitely make a difference on darker skin tones though!

Once again, I'm pretty happy with my bag. I can't complain about too much since it's still only $10 a month, and as usual, I ended up with products that I know I will use that are worth more than $10 on their own. I also just love trying new products for an affordable price. I would have other beauty subscriptions if they weren't so expensive, but Ipsy fits my budget! I think I'm loving the Cailyn gel liner the most, but I'll be trying to make the other products work more as well.

If you would like to join Ipsy, you can still join for just $10 a month! You can signup here: www.ipsy.com

That glitter palette is exactly like one I bough last fall for Halloween because I mistakenly thought it was glitter eyeshadow. Mine is from NYX and the glitter is only on the top of the pan and beneath the layer of glitter is a clear to sheer base. Just as yours does, it states to avoid eye area. Wha...???? I was saddened as this was why I purchased it to start with. I wonder if perhaps they are made by the same company? The little Ipsy bag is cute.